Abstract:

In the Netherlands, there are two types of universities: research universities and universities of applied sciences. Both types of universities want to make impact with their research. But for universities of applied sciences, this impact must be directly demonstrable in professional practice and education. However, showing the impact is not self-evident. This case study is about two research centres at the Faculty of Business, Media and Law (BML) of Windesheim University of Applied Sciences and how they create and demonstrate impact with their practice-oriented research. In these two research centres, eight research teams work on as many themes. These themes stem from a process of demand articulation among professional practitioners, educators who train for the professional practice, and representatives from society in large (e.g. local government). So the connection of practice oriented research with professional practice, education and society exists at the start of the research. But does that connection remain during and after the research? And what is the effect of having a connection or not on the impact of the research?

To answer these questions, we developed a five-step methodology. First, we further defined the term impact: any change in thinking or actions of professionals, educators and citizens as a result of interaction with researchers. The emphasis on thinking or actions in this definition comes from the overriding importance of the human factor in the organizations in which we conduct research: it is all about getting things done with people. To distinguish this form of impact from more traditional ways of looking at impact, the term "effect continuation" is used. As a second step, we determined for each research theme which change ambitions we have for professional practice, education and society. An example of such an ambition is the change ambition of the research team Family Businesses: more students can choose education aimed at working in family businesses. From the research of this team, tools were produced which educational institutions have used to develop modules on working in family businesses. As a result, half a million students in the Netherlands can now learn about the special dynamics in family businesses. The third step in the methodology is that the research community at Windesheim has formulated five general criteria that all our practice-oriented research must meet. An example of such a criterion is: education is actively involved in the research. The fourth and second last step is that we have chosen key performance indicators based on the theme, the change ambitions and the criteria. These indicators allow us to see whether we are achieving what we want to achieve. The final step is then to collect data on those indicators that clearly demonstrate the effect continuation. In the paper, this methodology will be explained with several concrete and usable examples. Also, various user experiences will be share.

Keywords:

Research centre, education, impact, change, indicators.